My baby girl turned 3!

Well, she actually turned three last month. Life has been a little crazy at the Foster house (but for those of you who know us, that is not at all abnormal!) I LOVE celebrating birthdays. So exciting to set aside a day to celebrate and remember God's handiwork!!! And I love birthday parties. Maybe because I didn't really have them as a kid. Or maybe it's just because it gives me lots of special time planning and preparing with my kids. We decided that once our kids were three we would not give them gifts... just a fun time with their friends. I figure that a toy will be broken or forgotten tomorrow but a special day with lots of pictures will be remembered forever! At least, that's the hope :)

At our house, we also LOVE books. I especially love children's books. You might almost call it an addiction for me. Could be a serious problem but I will deny it forever!!! One book very loved by all in our house is The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. This became the theme for the party. Here's a glimpse at some of what happened during the celebration!

This is the fun invitation that opened up to reveal details...

Decorations that show off my "growing" girl (she doesn't need much help in the "showing off" department though)....

Listening to Daddy read the VHC story...

Pretending to be a "new creation" (2 Cor. 5:17) by acting out the story and becoming butterflies.






The Hungry Caterpillar feast... complete with everything he eats in the book! Apples, pears, plums, oranges, strawberries, pickles, salami, swiss cheese, watermelon, sausages, cupcakes, cherry pie, lollipops, ice cream cones and chocolate cake! Whew! We substituted cheese muffins for cupcakes and added Pepperidge farm butterfly crackers to the salami and cheese to make lunch a bit more rounded :)





The kiddos enjoying their feast! My girls painted the decorations in the background - Eric Carle style! They are super cute... not sure what to do with them now though :(





The birthday girl having a great time!!!






The VHC enjoying his "one slice of chocolate cake!" Each child got one of these caterpillars and had to hunt on the 2nd floor for the 15 foods that caterpillar ate in the book. Hilarious to watch. They also threw VHC bean bags into a laundry basket "cocoon" and made sweet coffee filter butterfly magnets to take home.








Most of the crew... they were getting tired by picture time. But hey, 5 three year olds looking at a camera is pretty good, right?




Even the big kids were a little worn out by the end of the morning! :)



Overall, it was a really fun morning and a great celebration of life!!! Happy Birthday Sweet Mikaela!